April 15, 2006
Final Stats
WICHITA, Kan. -
The Illinois State men's tennis team (12-6, 4-0) downed Wichita State (9-11, 2-2) in a 5-2 battle Saturday afternoon at the Coleman Tennis Complex. The `Birds captured their ninth consecutive victory and remain undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference.
ISU started the match by earning the doubles point against the Shockers. Nuno Jacinto and Djordje Uskokovic teamed up to win at the No. 2 position (8-3) over Thiago Dos Santos and Tiago Espirito Santo of WSU. Also, Luka Marinkovic and Daniel Tobar recorded win number twelve as a doubles combination. The two competed at the No. 3 position to drop Wichita State's Augusto Alvarado and Moti Eisikovits, 8-3. Marinkovic and Tobar have yet to lose a match together this season.
"I have to give it to Luka and Daniel," said head coach Greg Kennett about the flawless duo. "Its nice to know that most likely they are going to win their match. Nuno and Djordje also played really well today. The doubles point was huge and set the tone for the match."
In singles, Uskokovic won his ninth consecutive singles match in a row. He plowed over Alvarado (6-0, 6-4) at the No. 4 spot. Uskokovic now owns a 17-4 overall record. Marinkovic fought till the bitter end to defeat Eisikovits at the No. 6 slot, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. The win marked Markovic's eighth straight singles win.
"Luka fought hard and got that victory we needed to clinch the match," said Kennett. "He fought hard and well even though he didn't play quite as well today and Djordje played a solid match and made very few mistakes."
Alban Renard and Jacinto also contributed to the mix. Renard downed Boris Gubic at the No. 2 singles spot (3-0) for his third consecutive win. Gubic retired early after suffering a knee injury. Jacinto topped Dos Santos 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 position and is now on a three match win streak.
The Redbirds will be back in action tomorrow at 10 a.m. where they will face Missouri State.
